By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Former Transnet and Eskom CFO Anoj Singh has filed an application to have his bail conditions relaxed as he wants to take up a CEO job offer in Dubai.
In court papers, Singh said he struggled to find a job since he resigned from Eskom in 2018 and that he had no reasonable prospect of finding one in South Africa.
He said all the financial resources he relied on to make ends meet had been depleted.
The job offer, which he submitted to the court, shows that the duration of the contract is five years. The offer comes from a company called Buy 4 Rich which advertises itself on LinkedIn as “a quintessential health and wellness brand that combines nature with luxury”, but does not appear to have a website.
Spokesperson of the National Prosecuting Authority’s Investigating Directorate (ID), Sindisiwe Seboka, said they would be opposing the application.
Singh, former Transnet CEO, Brian Molefe, and other executives were arrested in connection with R398.4 million fraud and corruption at Transnet in August 2022.
They face an array of charges which include contravention of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) and fraud, corruption and money laundering.
The charges stem from the locomotives transaction advisory tender which was awarded to the McKinsey-led consortium in 2012, resulting in the procurement of 1064 locomotives worth more than R54 billion.
According to Seboka, Regiments Capital was irregularly onboarded and ended up benefitting from the irregular appointment by Transnet in respect of the contract.
The contract value and scope for the services required was later escalated to more than R305 million.
“This agreement included, among other services, the sourcing of the China Development Bank loan and the Club loan which were in the amount of $2.5 billion, on behalf of Transnet (equivalent to R30 billion at the time),” said Seboka.
The accused also face charges linked to the R93.4 million paid to Trillian Asset Management in 2015.
Singh is a qualified chartered accountant. He studied at University of KwaZulu-Natal (former University of Durban-Westville).